Nollywood actress Funke Akindele and her husband Abdulrasheed Bello were on Monday 6th April 2020 sentenced to 14-day community service by a Magistrate court sitting in Lagos for coronavirus lockdown violation.
According to the sentence handed over to the couple by the Court, they are to serve three hours per day excluding Saturday and Sunday.
They must each visit 10 public places to educate people on the consequences of not complying with directives on Coronavirus. The court also directed them to pay a fine of N100,000 each.
The court sentenced Funke Akindele and her husband for coronavirus lockdown violation, and after they pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of hosting a gathering of 20 persons and over, contrary to the social distancing directives of the Lagos State Government.
The Jenifa’s Diary producer was arrested on Sunday after she was dragged for hosting a birthday party for her husband inside a crowded room with friends and family members, which clearly was a violation of directives given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in order to slow down the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
The actress and her husband were arraigned on Monday at the Samuel Ilori Courthouse of the Magistrate Court in Ogba, Lagos. The charge against them is made pursuant to the Regulation 8(1a &b) and S 17(1) of the State’s Infectious Disease Regulation 2020.
Funke Akindele who coincidentally, is said to be an Ambassador to NCDC and one of those that has been preaching against social gathering, and urging for social distancing during this period, was caught on tape violating what she has been preaching against. Both NCDC and Dettol Nigeria have since distanced themselves from the actress.
After a video from the birthday party, she hosted for her husband surfaced online showing a crowded room with her friends and family member celebrating, despite the lockdown and social distancing order.
Nigerians who have been at a disadvantage with the whole lockdown order, trooped to social media to call her out for risking the lives of others just for the sake of celebrating a birthday.